Showing posts with label Gjirokastra festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gjirokastra festival. Show all posts

08 August 2017

Vanity Fair: Summer in the sea of Albania

The Italian Magazine “Vanity Fair” recommends all its readers to go in Albania to experience amazing summer vacations, full of surprises. 
Photo Credits: Albania Holidays

If you are more into cultural heritage Albania has three UNESCO sites, the ancient city of Berat, Gjirokastra city and Butrint.
1. Berat known as the “City of a Thousand Windows”  with the Osumi River running lightly at the slopes of the mountains, the stone houses dimly lit in the dark night and the Church of the Dormition of Mary looking up from the town holding its precious icons (and, in a few steps, even those Of the Onufri museum).
2. Gjirokastra, among the outdoor cafés, typical local souvenirs and antique bazaars and the crumbling Ottoman-era mansion, ready to recast the façade, here the compass is the castle with the generous view of the old town and some “modern" stunts.
3. And then, for archaeology enthusiasts, there is the inevitable Butrint. Well preserved, well-kept and positioned in a landscape hanging between the sea and the dense biodiversity. It is most important site of Albania, inviting visitors on a backward journey in history between the ruins of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian civilizations and Ottoman time..


Photo Credits: Albania Holidays

The most beautiful seaside 
The winding coastal road connecting the city of Valona to Saranda is one of the most spectacular in the whole Mediterranean. Above the 1,027 meters of altitude of the Llogaraja pass , in fact, from the bay of Palasa and down to the head of Stillo , the so-called "Albanian Riviera" is a succession of bays and resorts, more or less Tourism of great numbers. Beaches of Himara, Porto Palermo and Dhermi preserve a more discreet charm. Walking along this last stretch of Albanian coast, among the villages of the immediate hinterland of sleepy air, small family hotels and tiny creeks to discover in total freedom.
Furthermore, the Corfu Island is now only a handful of sea miles, and those looking for a postcard sea (or maybe it would be better to say from Facebook), coming down a bit can hit a shot Sure about Ksamil. Its four tiny islets, easily accessible by swimming or pedaling directly from the beach, invite you to enjoy in transparent waters where, outside the high season, the fish are amazed by the presence of bathers. In July and August, however, here as elsewhere is always the timing that makes the difference: wake up early and the lonely dive is assured!
Photo Credits: Albania Holidays
Food in Albania
In Albania cooking is a serious topic. Thanks to the increasing return of young people who have studied and worked in the fields of agriculture and catering in Italy, the country boasts excellent addresses.
Traditional dishes, such as pork, the typical salty cake made from thinly packed pasta filled with vegetables, cheese or meat, are now accompanied by a search for product quality, possibly seasonal and zero kilometers.

Photo Credits: Albania Holidays
Traditional food at Mrizi Zanave



See full article here 

09 June 2015

18 foreigners dance to the Gjirokastra Folk Festival in Albania. Best closure ever!

There is no better closure for Gjirokastra Festival than 18 foreigners dancing professionally our folk dances and the crowd join them. It is so touching when you see foreigners to dance so beautifully and passionately our folk dances. 

"The last day of the Gjirokaster festival in Albania last week, the group of 18 foreigners I was in was asked to do a short performance on the main festival stage. Genci  Katsrati and Cees Hillebrand arranged costumes, we danced ... and later watched ourselves on Albanian television! At the end of the performance we went down from the stage and danced with the audience... this is how Lee Otterholt, one of the dancers from California comments the video on his Facebook Page.  


The initiator of all this is Cees Hillebrand the founder of  albanian-folklore.com designed to make Albanian folklore in all its aspects accessible for everyone who takes interest in Albanian folklore. The website, as Cees describes it  was named in respect to the Albanian people, living in Albania and neighboring countries like Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Greece. The folklore of the Albanians who left their country to Italy from the 16th century onwards, called Arbëresh, has evolved in a different way through the centuries and is not taken into account in this project for the moment, although it will be very interesting to see the similarities and differences.
Cees Hillebrand in cooperation with  Albania Holidays and  professional dancers from Albanian National Folk Ensemble  is running seminar and tours to Albania  since 2010. Many tourists from different countries who share the passion for Albanian folk music and dances come to visit Albania and combine their tour with dance seminars. Cees is doing a great job also in documenting this with photos and videos.

It is so touching when you see foreigners to dance so beautifully and passionately our folk dances. We have shared previously another video when they sing the famous song :Janines c'i pane syte" with a very professional "iso" and combination of voices.

About Cees Hillebrand

Cees was born  in the Netherlands and took interest in Albanian folklore during one of his visits to western Macedonia, at that time a republic of the Yugoslav federation, many years ago. As Albania was closed at that time for foreigners it was difficult to get reliable information.
Albania remained a mystery to him and he started to study the Albanian folklore from whatever kind of information source he could get and finally in 2004 he was able to visit the Gjirokastër festival and experience with  own eyes and ears the richness of the Albanian folklore.

He cooperates with people from the National Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances (AKKVP) in Tirana, scientists from the Academy of Science, ethnology department, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana, people from the Centre for Immaterial folk culture, the Institute for Albanology at the University of Kosovo in Pristine and many others.(source: albanian-folklore.com)

If you would like to take the tour, see description here http://www.albania-holidays.com/tours-to-albania/albania-folk-tour